The Nectar Creek tap room in Philomath may be the country's only meadery with a full restaurant. It's also part of a mini-boom in the small town west of Corvallis, helping the community form a new identity. Here are some details about mead and its local impact.

As the scheduled launch of the state health insurance marketplaces on Oct. 1 approaches, many parents have questions about covering their children. Here are a few we got recently.

I am a divorced dad who has responsibility for maintaining my 15-year-old daughter's health insurance. It was easy when I was working and had a corporate health plan. Now that I am retired and covered by Medicare, I am looking for alternatives when the new exchanges open. Can I buy health insurance for just my underage daughter on these new exchanges?

The Eugene City Council Monday voted 6 to 2 to allow small homeless camps. I spoke with City Councilor Claire Syrett Tuesday to get more details on the ordinance. Syrett says it was proposed by City Manager John Ruiz who will bring the council a list of potential sites on public or private property or religious and non-profit organizations.Claire Syrett spoke with KLCC's Rachael McDonald.

While conceding that nations will disagree about when and how to step in as "tyrants ... commit wanton murder," President Obama told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that "we must get better" at preventing atrocities.

The president again laid out his case for strong international action to hold Syrian President Bashar Assad accountable for his regime's alleged use of chemical weapons. Then Obama told world leaders that:

First, it was Washington and Colorado. Now, Oregon is in the running to legalize marijuana. Supporters are gathering signatures for a pair of initiatives to allow pot for recreational purposes. But here’s something that hasn’t happened in any other state: Oregon lawmakers are actually thinking seriously about taking on the issue.

A strong, 7.7-magnitude earthquake in southern Pakistan on Tuesday has killed at least 45 people, according to Reuters. The U.S. Geological Survey says the initial temblor was followed by several aftershocks — one of them a 5.9-magnitude.

The affected area is reportedly about 145 miles southeast of Dalbandin in Pakistan's western province of Baluchistan.

A brief and abstract chronicle of some of Tuesday's more interesting political stories, the kinds of stories that might get people who like politics talking around a water cooler, if people still did that sort of thing.